Space Is the Place, John Szwed
Space Is the Place, John Szwed
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
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Space Is the Place
The Lives and Times of Sun Ra

Author: John Szwed

Narrator: Leon Nixon

Unabridged: 16 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/09/2021

Synopsis

Considered by many to be a founder of Afrofuturism, Sun Ra—aka Herman Blount—was a composer, keyboardist, bandleader, philosopher, entrepreneur, poet, and self-proclaimed extraterrestrial from Saturn. He recorded over 200 albums with his Arkestra, which, dressed in Egypto-space costumes, played everything from boogie-woogie and swing to fusion and free jazz.

John Szwed's Space is the Place is the definitive biography of this musical polymath, who was one of the twentieth century's greatest avant-garde artists and intellectuals. Charting the whole of Sun Ra's life and career, Szwed outlines how after years in Chicago as a blues and swing band pianist, Sun Ra set out in the 1950s to impart his views about the galaxy, black people, and spiritual matters by performing music with the Arkestra that was as vital and innovative as it was mercurial and confounding. Szwed's listeners—whether they are just discovering Sun Ra or are among the legion of poets, artists, intellectuals, and musicians who consider him a spiritual godfather—will find that, indeed, space is the place.

About John Szwed

John Szwed is the author or editor of many books, including biographies of Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Sun Ra, and Alan Lomax. He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, and in 2005 was awarded a Grammy for Doctor Jazz, a book included with the album Jelly Roll Morton: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax. A former professor of anthropology, African American studies, and film studies for twenty-six years at Yale University, he was also a professor of music and jazz studies at Columbia University, and served as the chair of the Department of Folklore and Folklife at the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Philadelphia with his family.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Tentatively,

I grew up in Baltimore. Sun Ra was based in Philly during alotof of my adult yrs there. He played in Baltimore fairly often. There was a club on N Charles St called the Famous Ballroom. Sun Ra & the Arkestra played there. It was dark, w/ one of those "disco balls" - those multi-faceted things that s......more

Goodreads review by Gerhard

“Did you see Star Wars?” Sonny once asked writer Francis Davis. “It was very accurate.” Asked the man in the space hat. Review to follow.......more

Goodreads review by Andy

I don't know if this book de-mystifies Sun Ra or confirms his weirdness, but one thing's for certain: this is a great book that entertains like only the best jazz can. Many members of his big band remained loyal to him for over thirty years, and it's easy to see why. Sun Ra started out emulating Duk......more

Goodreads review by Jeff

John Szwed's Space is the Place is a decent biography of the enigmatic bandleader and composer Sun Ra. The author wisely avoids trying to set the record straight, and allows the subject and his contemporaries to speak on their own terms, keeping the many contradictions unresolved. This is the best p......more

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